Mark and I are heading back to the old country - google map - rental car - no fixed address. This could be very interesting - SIBLING POWER UNITE!!

Sunday, 14 August 2011

Day at Sea

This is a sad fact for all of my lake friends.We are cruising in the middle of the Mediterranean and the Sea is flatter than our lake.There have been many evenings where we wished we had a boat to go for a surf and wakeboard.Super deep/no weeds/no bugs/no boat traffic. (unless you include the other big cruise ships you pass on occasion.

A super lazy day for us today. The kids finally rolled out of bed at about 11:30.It could have been because I walked in and opened the blackout curtains, and said - get up!They went upstairs for brunch, just as we sat down to eat they caught a glimpse of their pals – and ditched us yet again.Tim and I were left to entertain ourselves, so we did what every cruiser would do is play bingo.We went to the express game in the morning to make sure we knew what we were doing. (just in case we had to buy troll dolls/blotter pens/small shrine to be setup) We managed to figure it out so we were well prepared for the big bingo game at 3:00p.Off we went to meet our new bingo friends - pick the lucky cards, and sit in the lucky row.As it turns out all the prep work was well worth it as I won the big money.Yup $300.I am off to the spa.Bit of bad luck for Vhari, as I cannot find her to take her........tear tear.

Formal dinner tonight, so we all have to bathe and get all prettied up.Tim is currently having his afternoon nap (at 6:00p) Travis is hanging out in the cabin cooling down and watching TV, Vhari – well who knows.She could be on the bridge have tea with the captain.Don’t laugh – she was on stage with the magician last night as his assistant, and I am sitting on the deck drinking wine.We are all happy.

I have to say that this trip has been a great experience for our core family.Tim and I really enjoy the kids company.They have turned out to be truly amazing individuals.They will try anything, go with the flow and respect the different cultures.There are no cell phones that we are competing with, no places to drive them (even though Travis now has his licence – yes!), no practices to go to, no insurance to sell Just the 4 of us hanging out.Highly recommend it.

Messina, Sicily tomorrow.We promised a beach day for the kids, so we will see if that happens.The day after that we are back Civitavecchia where most of the ship disembarks, and new people come aboard for another 10 day cruise around the other side of Europe.We are off to Livorno (Florence/Pisa) Monaco (Monte Carlo), Spain (Barcelona, Palma de Mallorca), Tunisia (Tunis), Sicily (Palermo) Italy (Naples).This has been an outstanding trip so far and are looking forward to the next 12 days aboard the ship.I think that I should start slowing down my food intake so that I will have a chance to fit in my work clothes.